So you’ve met with the lawyer and signed all the legal documents needed to ensure that your child will be properly cared for after you are gone. Congratulations, that’s an accomplishment to check off your list. But you’re not quite done.
Sit down and write a “letter of intent” to the people you have...
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Who Should We Name as Guardian (or Power of Attorney or Health Care Proxy) for Our Special Needs Child?
As your special needs child turns 18, you need to name advocates to act as her voice on financial, legal, and health care matters. See my post on the need for a guardianship or a Durable Power of Attorney and Health Care Proxy.
The big question is who to name to act as the...
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What Happens to My Special Needs Child’s Health Care Coverage When She Turns 18?
The idea of a special needs kid turning 18 can be scary – that is when she is legally an adult and things start to change. In another post I will address her legal decision-making power. This post looks at health care coverage.
If your child is on your private health insurance policy (i.e.,...
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Oh My Gosh, My Special Needs Child is About to Become a Legal Adult!
Knowing that your special needs child is about to become “of majority age” can strike fear in the heart. If you doubt your child’s ability to make her own financial, legal, and health care decisions, there are a few things you need to do before she turns 18. (If she is already 18 or...
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Set Up a Self-Settled Special Needs Trust for Your Child Now
If you have already established a “third-party special needs trust” for your child – that’s the one that will receive her share of your estate when you pass away – congratulations. Now it’s time to set up a “self-settled” special needs trust. This trust will be a depository for any of your child’s own...
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Afraid That You Don’t Have Much of an Estate to Leave to Your Disabled Child?
Many parents worry that when they die their estates will be too small to provide much care for their disabled child. One solution is to purchase “second-to-die life insurance.” These policies are relatively inexpensive, and the company pays the death benefit only after both of the people insured have died.
Usually purchased by spouses,...
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A Family Only Needs One Special Needs Trust
Have you set up a Special Needs Trust (SNT) to receive your disabled child’s share of your estate when you die? Are there other family members who might also want to leave something to your disabled child, for example grandparents or a doting uncle? Or even non-family members, such as god-parents or very close...
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